Various electronic equipment is utilized to provide data connections between components and to process data. This equipment may comprise a communication board having a substrate bearing a number of connectors, data processing components (filters, converters, processors and the like) and associated connecting circuitry. The connectors may be of a variety of types and permit cable connection to the board.
These communication boards may be mounted in a housing or chassis for protection and support. Unfortunately, this same mounting increases the likelihood of overheating of the board and makes the various components of the board, including the connectors, less accessible. In addition, in many situations, these chassis are mounted in a rack in a stacked configuration. This allows a large amount of equipment to be located in a small area. However, the close proximity of the equipment makes even more difficult the task of cooling the boards.
Various solutions have been attempted to solve these problems. For example, fans may be employed in an attempt to circulate air to cool the board, or air conditioners may be used to cool the air around the board. These solutions are not sufficiently effective, however, in situations such as those described above.